Esplanade Park
The Esplanade Park (Chinese: 海滨公园) is a historic park located in the Esplanade within the Downtown Core of the Central Area in Singapore's central business district. Built in 1943, the Esplanade Park is one of the oldest in Singapore. The park was redeveloped in 1991. Many historical landmarks are located at the Esplanade Park, which include the Queen Elizabeth Walk, the former Indian National Army Monument site, The Cenotaph (completed in 1922), the Tan Kim Seng Fountain (moved here in 1925 from Fullerton Square), and the Lim Bo Seng Memorial (which was unveiled in 1954). The Esplanade Park is bounded by Connaught Drive, Stamford Road, Esplanade Drive and the mouth of the Singapore River. The Cenotaph The Cenotaph (Chinese: 战亡纪念碑) is a war memorial located within the Esplanade Park at Connaught Drive, within the Central Area in Singapore's central business district. History The inscription at the base of The Cenotaph reads: They died that we might live. The Cenotaph was built in memory of the 124 British soldiers born or resident in Singapore who gave their lives in World War I (1914–1918), with a second dedication (but no names) added in remembrance of those who died in World War II (1941–1945). The structure was designed by Denis Santry of Swan and Maclaren. The foundation stone was laid by Sir Lawrence Nunns Guillemard, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, on 15 November 1920. In attendance was the visiting French Premier, George Clemenceau who was the French Minister of War from 1917 to 1919. The memorial was completed in 1922, and was unveiled on 31 March that year by the young Prince Edward of Wales, later Duke of Windsor and King Edward VIII, during his Asia-Pacific tour. During the unveiling ceremony, a chaplain blessed the Cenotaph with the words, "The stone is well laid and truly laid to the Glory of God and the memory of the illustrious dead." Against the backdrop of the sea then fronting Queen Elizabeth Walk, Governor Guillemard awarded medals of courage to those who had served in the war. In Prince Edward's entourage was Louis Mountbatten. At the end of World War II, Mountbatten returned to Singapore as the Supreme Commander of the South East Asia Command to receive the surrender of the Japanese at City Hall on 12 September 1945. Vandalism Act On April 23, 2013, the Cenotaph was vandalized when it was discovered that someone had sprayed the word "DEMOCRACY" on the monument as well as an "X" which crossed out the text "1914 to 1918". On April 29, a Singaporean man alleged to have vandalised the Cenotaph war memorial was arrested. Mohamad Khalid Mohamad Yusop was charged with one count of vandalism on 29 April 2013. He will be held in remand at the central police division to assist in investigations. Under the Vandalism Act, the accused faces a fine of up to S$2,000 or a maximum imprisonment term of up to three years. On August 26, 2013, the Mohamad Khalid Mohamad Yusop was sentenced to 3 months jail and 3 strokes of the cane as well as ordered to pay SGD$208 compensation to the state for the cost of repairs. Tan Kim Seng Fountain The Tan Kim Seng Fountain is a fountain in Singapore that was erected in 1882 in honor of notable philanthropist Tan Kim Seng for his donations for the Singapore’s first reservoir and waterworks. History The erection of the Tan Kim Seng Fountain by the then British Colonial Government was in response to Tan's donation of $130,000 to the government for the construction of Singapore’s first reservoir and waterworks. The Tan Kim Seng Fountain was erected by the Municipal Commissioners to commemorate Tan's donation. However, his donation was squandered away by the Government Engineer, who hoped to make water run uphill through water pipes. In 1882, possibly out of shame and to mark the British colonial government's appreciation for such a generous gift, the fountain was installed at Fullerton Square to perpetuate his name, where it would grace the busy traffic intersection for four decades. The fountain was made by Andrew Handyside and Company from England, and officially unveiled on 19 May 1882. The fountain was moved to Battery Road in 1905 and later in 1925 to the Esplanade, while the Fullerton Building was being constructed, where it currently stands. In January 1994, it was shut down for repairs that lasted seven months. As part of this S$1.12-million restoration project, the 7m-high cast-iron fountain was also rust-proofed and a new foundation was built. It currently sits alongside other monuments such as the Lim Bo Seng Memorial and Cenotaph at the Esplanade Park. Design and appearance The Victorian-style iron fountain has three tiers and is decorated with classical figures. The exquisite fountain features four Muses – Greek goddesses of science, literature, and the arts – in its lower bowl, each bearing an object of her patronage. Calliope, the Muse of Epic Poetry, carries a writing tablet; Clio, the Muse of History, carries a scroll; Erato, the Muse of Lyric Poetry, carries a lyre; and Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy, carries a wreath. Beneath the sculptures of the Muses are four faces of Poseidon, the God of the Sea according to Greek mythology, each spouting water. The fountain bears close resemblance to the Carriedo Fountain in Manila, which also dates from 1882, and was possibly manufactured by the same founder. Former Indian National Army Monument The Former Indian National Army Monument (Chinese: 印度国民军纪念碑) is a historical site and a demolished war memorial at the Esplanade Park located at Connaught Drive within the downtown of Singapore. The monument was constructed to commemorate the "Unknown Warrior" of the Indian National Army (INA). The words inscribed on the war memorial were its motto, which is Unity (Ittehad), Faith (Ittemad) and Sacrifice (Qurbani). It was built during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore as the Japanese and the INA had one enemy in common, i.e., the British. Subhas Chandra Bose ("Netaji") laid the foundation stone on July 8, 1945. The monument was then erected within a month by the Japanese on August 1945, a few months before Singapore was recaptured by the British. The construction of the monument was proposed by Bose, the co-founder of the INA and Head of State of the Provisional Government of Free India. The INA was backed by the Japanese forces for its goal of gaining India's independence from Britain. Soon after the Japanese retreat from Singapore in 15 August 1945 and the subsequent surrender of the remaining divisions of the Indian National Army to the advancing British, the British commander Lord Louis Mountbatten ordered the memorial to be destroyed. Mountbatten's intention was to remove all traces of rebellion against British imperial authority. By attempting to completely erase all records of the INA's existence, he sought to prevent the seeds of the idea of a revolutionary socialist independence force from spreading into the vestiges of British colonies, amidst the spectre of Cold War politics already taking shape at the time, which had haunted the colonial powers before the war. In 1995, the National Heritage Board marked the place as a historical site and subsequently with financial donations from the Indian community in Singapore, a new monument commemorating the previous one was erected on that spot. Queen Elizabeth Walk The Queen Elizabeth Walk is a promenade located at the Esplanade Park within the Downtown Core district of the Central Area of Singapore. History Once a seafront promenade, Queen Elizabeth Walk was part of the Esplanade, a long open stretch of field by the sea, although it was not until 1953 that it got its name. Before the land reclamation project in 1843, the original shoreline touched the wide Esplanade, approximately at the edges of both the Singapore Cricket Club and Singapore Recreation Club buildings. Further landfill and reclamation in 1890 enabled the widening of the Esplanade when an area almost equivalent to Raffles' Plain (now the Padang) was added to its coastal side. A sea wall was also built and a new road, called New Esplanade Road, was formed. New Esplanade Road sat on the curve of the original shoreline and formed a circuit with Old Esplanade Road, now Saint Andrew's Road, which was popular for evening carriage rides among the leisurely class. In 1907, New Esplanade Road was renamed Connaught Drive, to commemorate the visit of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, and his brother, King Edward VII, the year before. In the early years of the twentieth century, ths scenic coastal road stretched all the way from the city to Keppel Harbour. The instructions, "jalan tepi laut" in Malay, meaning "go by the seaside", were understood by all and sundry. In 1922, there was further reclamation off the coast along Connaught Drive and the new land became the Esplanade Park. In 1953, Elizabeth II was crowned and Singapore commemorated the event by sprucing up Connaught Drive and renaming the Esplanade Park as Queen Elizabeth Walk. It was officially declared open by Lady McNeice on 30 May 1953. With newly planted shady trees and neatly trimmed shrubs, the promenade quickly became a favourite place for an evening stroll. From there, strollers could catch the sea breeze, admire hundreds of ships in the harbour with their colourful fluttering flags and eat freshly barbecued satay at the Satay Club, which consisted of a collection of seafront hawker stalls. Today, the Queen Elizabeth Walk refers to the stretch of promenade along Marina Bay within the Esplanade Park. The Satay Club has been shifted from the vacant site to Clarke Quay and become a tourist attraction. The sea view is now obscured by the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay and the vehicular Esplanade Bridge. Despite this, Queen Elizabeth Walk is still a pleasant stretch which holds several monuments together with Anderson Bridge. Lim Bo Seng Memorial The Lim Bo Seng Memorial is a octagonal pagoda-like war memorial at Esplanade Park, Singapore. It was erected in 1954 in honour of the late Lim Bo Seng. The war memorial is the only structure that commemorates an individual efforts for the World War II. History In 1946, The Lim Bo Seng Memorial Committee was established to raise funds for the memorial and prepared the proposals of the plan to colonial government, one of which proposed the construction of a memorial park around the late Lim Bo Seng's grave at MacRitchie Reservoir. The colonial government rejected five of the committee’s proposals, and would later granted permission in 1953 for a memorial to be built at the Esplanade based on the sixth proposal. On 3 November 1953 at 5.30 pm, the British Commissioner-General for Southeast Asia Malcolm MacDonald laid the foundation stone for the structure at the ceremony with Lim Bo Seng's widow Gan Choo Neo and her children in present. Architecture The memorial was designed by Ng Keng Siang, the first overseas trained Singaporean architect, it was a high Chinese National Style architecture of octagonal pagoda-like structure made of marble with a three-tier bronze roof, and the marble and concrete pedestal with four bronze lions stand guard around the memorial. The bronze roof and the bronze lions are imported from Hong Kong. Four bronze plaques imprinted with inscription account of Lim’s life in English, Chinese, Tamil and Jawi, were installed around the memorial. The memorial occupied the site which was donated by the government measuring by . Unveiling of the Memorial On 29 June 1954, the completed Memorial was unveiled by Sir Charles Loewen, the Commander-in-Chief of the Far East Land Forces in front of a crowd of people with Lim's widow, her children and some members of the Force 136 in present at the 10th death anniversary ceremony of Major-General Lim Bo Seng. On 29 June 1959 on the 15th anniversary of the death of Major-General Lim Bo Seng, Lim's widow and her eldest son Lim Leong Geok and daughter Lim Oon Geok among others laid wreaths at the Memorial at Esplanade Park and at his memorial tomb at MacRitchie Reservoir. See also * Esplanade Bridge * Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay * List of parks in Singapore References * Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2004), Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern University Press, ISBN 981-210-364-3 External links *Esplanade Park official website *National Parks Board official website Category:Downtown Core (Singapore) Category:Parks in Singapore